Olive oil prices surge over 100% to record highs, sparking cooking oil thefts
CNBC 2023-09-19 00:30:53 • 4 mins
Key Points
- Olive oil prices spiked to fresh records as severe droughts in major producing continue to crimp supplies driving desperate people to resort to stealing it.
- Global prices of olive oil surged to $8,900 per ton in September, driven by "extremely dry weather" in the Mediterranean, according to the USDA.
- Some 50,000 liters of extra virgin olive oil was reportedly stolen from one of Spain's oil mills in late August, according to local media reports. That's more than 420,000, or about $450,000, worth of olive oil.
Bottles of olive oil and sunflower oil at a Mercadona SA supermarket in Barcelona, Spain.
Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Olive oil prices spiked to fresh records as severe droughts in major producing countries crimp supplies and drive up thefts in cooking oil.
Global prices for olive oil surged to $8,900 per ton in September, driven by "extremely dry weather" in the Mediterranean, according to a recent report by the United States Department of Agriculture. Already, the average price in August was 130% higher compared to the year before, and showed "no sign of easing," USDA said.
